The Respiratory System Pathophysiology BMS 243 The Respiratory System Tuberculosis Dr. Aya M. Serry 2017

What’s Tuberculosis (TB) ?? Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection caused by slow-growing bacteria ( Mycobacterium Tuberculosis). It grows best in areas of the body that have lots of blood and oxygen That’s why it is most often found in the lungs. This is called pulmonary TB. But TB can also spread to other parts of the body, which is called Extrapulmonary TB

Types of TB Tuberculosis is either latent or active Latent TB means that you have the TB bacteria in your body, but your body’s defenses (immune system) are keeping it from turning into active TB. This means that you don't have any symptoms of TB right now and can't spread the disease to others. If you have latent TB, it can become active TB Active TB means that the TB bacteria are growing and causing symptoms. If your lungs are infected with active TB, it is easy to spread the disease to others

How TB Spreads? Pulmonary TB is contagious It spreads when a person who has active TB breathes out air that has the TB bacteria in it and then another person breathes in the bacteria from the air. An infected person releases even more bacteria when he does things like cough or laugh If TB is only in other parts of the body (extra pulmonary TB), it does not spread easily to others

TB Risk Factors Some people are more likely than others to get TB. This includes people who: Have HIV or another illness that weakens the immune system Have close contact with someone who has active TB, such as living in the same house as someone who is infected with TB Care for a patient who has active TB, such as doctors or nurses Live or work in crowded places, such as prisons, nursing homes, or homeless shelters, where other people may have active TB

TB Risk Factors Have poor access to health care, such as homeless people and farm workers Travel to or were born in places where untreated TB is common, such as Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Russia. It is important for people who are at a high risk for getting TB to get tested once or twice every year

TB : What are the symptoms? People with latent TB don't have symptoms unless the disease becomes active Symptoms of active TB may include: Cough Bloody mucus from the lungs (called sputum) for more than 2 weeks Tiredness and weight loss Night sweats and a fever A rapid heartbeat Swelling in the neck (when lymph nodes in the neck are infected) Shortness of breath and chest pain (in rare cases)

How is TB diagnosed? Doctors usually diagnose TB by doing a tuberculin skin test During the skin test, a doctor or nurse will inject TB antigens under your skin. If you have TB bacteria in your body, within 2 days you will get a red bump where the needle went into your skin The test can't tell when you became infected with TB or if it can be spread to others

How is TB diagnosed? To find pulmonary TB, doctors test a sample of mucus from the lungs (sputum) to see if there are TB bacteria in it Doctors sometimes take a chest X-ray to help find pulmonary TB

How is TB Treated? Isoniazid Rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane) TB infection is treated with medicine, usually for 4-9 months If you have latent tuberculosis, you may need to take just one type of TB drug Active tuberculosis, particularly if it's a drug-resistant strain, will require several drugs at once. The most common medications used to treat tuberculosis include: Isoniazid Rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane)